A HALF-CENTURY and two wickets from man of the match Ian Clarke saw the Sunday XI sneak over the winning line by one run at Whissendine in Grantham Division Two.

Clarke's second career half century saw him come in with Sileby wobbling at 31 for 3 and he shared in stands of 46 with Micky Ruddle (31) for the fourth wicket and 44 with Steve Steel (17) for the seventh as Sileby posted a meagre 142 all out leaving six overs and two balls unused in the process.

Earlier in the piece, Ruddle had shared in a stand of 31 with Joe Charity (22) for the second wicket as they consolidated the early loss of Connor Simon, who was trapped leg before from the sixth ball of the innings.

Whissendine's trio of Bates’ shared seven of the Sileby scalps between them, while only four of Sileby's men got in to double figures on a very spongy pitch which saw Clarke as last man out for 52.

The Whissendine reply was very much along similar lines as only four men made double figure scores as the bowlers again bossed proceedings with Ryan Liquorish bowling excellently early on and getting just rewards with figures of 3 for 34 from nine overs.

Ruddle offered excellent support with 4 for 24 while Sam Gale chipped in with 1 for 16 as wickets fell regularly.

However, with seven overs remaining Whissendine needed just three runs for victory with two wickets in hand. Enter stage left Clarke.

He removed Vickers, caught in the covers by Andy Kenneth for a duck and then bowled top scorer C Bates off the inside edge for 43 to send the many youngsters in the team in to raptures.

The 18 points will be a welcome return for the Sunday 1st XI as they look to consolidate their position in Division Two of the Grantham League.